This invention relates to a new and improved collapsible support fixture for camouflage screens, tenting, or the like.
Camouflage screens commonly are provided in modules of hexagonal or triangular sections which are assembled edge-wise to form a camouflage sheet of a desired size and configuration. Often, the size and configuration will depend upon the number or type of personnel or equipment to be covered and concealed by the camouflage screen. The screen usually is laid out on the ground, for instance, and staked at its corners or edges to cover a particular area or to conceal particular equipment. "Umbrella" type support fixtures then are raised beneath the screen to elevate the screen above the desired area or equipment. The umbrella support fixtures may be randomly disposed so as to achieve a random outline or contour for the overall screen.
Obviously, in military applications time may be of the essence and, in fact, quite critical. One of the major problems in this area is the cumbersome nature and construction of the vertical support fixtures or "umbrella" supports which are erected beneath the camouflage screen. These support fixtures often are collapsible and can be assembled and disassembled for transport. The camouflage screen itself can be employed very rapidly, but considerable time is lost in assembling and erecting the support fixtures beneath the camouflage screen. Often this is done by a single person who might not have much trouble in assembling the support fixture, but it presently is quite difficult with available fixtures to hold the fixture in place beneath the camouflage screen, elevate the fixture, and then have to lock the fixture in elevated condition to support the screen. It would be highly desirable to provide a collapsible support fixture which needs little assembly and which would automatically lock itself in elevated or spread condition simply by actuation of the elevating mechanism.
Another problem with such collapsible support fixtures of the character described is that the fixtures normally are used with standard batten spreader support arms. The batten spreader arms are like the "ribs" of an umbrella support mechanism. The arms have become standard items and are generally flat and flexible so as to maintain a constant tension on the camouflage screen when installed with initial preload against the arms. The use of such standard flexible batten spreader arms introduces the possibility of material fatigue over an extended period of time or possible field damage, causng a condition where it would be desirable to replace one or more of the batten spreader support arms. Heretofore, there has been no means for rapid interchangement of the arms without the use of hand tools. It would be desirable to provide a collapsible support fixture which would releasably receive and mount the individual batten spreader support arms whereby the arms can be readily assembled and disassembled and individually replaced in the event of damage or breakage without the use of any kind of tools.
The present invention is directed to solving these problems and satisfying these needs by providing a new and improved collapsible support fixture which is self-locking in a spread condition and which has rapid interchangement of the batten spreader support arms.